Senate Armed Services ranking member John McCain and four Republican colleagues are scheduled Thursday to unveil legislation that would replace with other spending reductions the sequestered defense cuts mandated by the failure of the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction.

The Arizona Republican has said for a while that the legislation was in the works, and a news release describes the bill as one that would &ldquo;replace spending &lsquo;sequestration&rsquo; with more responsible cuts to federal spending.&rdquo;

Joining McCain as sponsors of the bill are Sens. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) as well as Minority Whip Jon Kyl (Ariz.) and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas).

A spokesman for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said he is also co-sponsoring the bill, although he may not be able to attend the event because of a scheduling conflict.